Easy Weekday Eats

Here's some tasty things I have eaten this week! Quick, easy, healthy, yummy. No complaints here!

PB&Co White Chocolate Peanut Butter...Orange Marmalade...Toasted Almonds...on Local Whole Grain Bread...from the PB&Co. Cookbook! Amazing sandwich!!

Tofu "Parmesean" Open-Faced Sandwiches: Italian-Baked Tofu, Marinara Sauce, Cheezy Mozzarella Sauce, and Basil. yum!!!! with a Raw Beet Salad. perfect.
Big'n'Tasty Salad: Red Leaf Lettuce, Cabbage, Red Onion, Apples, Sweet Potato, Toasted Pecans, Tahini Dressing. Hit the spot after a long run!

Craving Some Soul Food

Some things are just good for your soul. For example, my soul was absolutely ecstatic on Tuesday night when Barack Obama became our next president!!!! Perhaps it was due to his awesome-ness, his amazing staff's work, or my cooking?! I did make those lucky black-eyed peas, you know! I also made these Barack Obama Cupcakes!! As good as these were, I guess he deserved his win from his own merit....

These are the Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, topped with a Maple-Cinnamon Buttercream that I whipped up...and they are blessed with little Obama cupcake toppers, courtesy of Natalie at Bake and Destroy!! These were a perfect way to celebrate a victory! Oh, and the pumpkin puree used in these was some I made myself from a locally-grown pumpkin courtesy of the Columbia Farmer's Market and Steven! yay DIY! These not only tasted amazing, they were life-CHANGING! :)

Another thing that is good for your soul: SOLE food! This is a culinary ideology and, more recently, a trend where consumers are beginning to desire foods to eat/purchase that are: Sustainable, Organic, Local, and Ethical. I hope this is not just a hip trend for eaters, but that it becomes a way of life for people everywhere. Here are a few meals we had this week that were both in the area of soul foods and SOLE foods!

Seitan Chorizo-Stuffed Acorn Squash with Angelica Kitchen Cookbook's Cornbread

V-Con's Cornmeal-Crusted Tofu, Dirrrrrty Brown Rice, Roasted Root Veggies

BBQ Soycurls, Angelica Kitchen Cookbook's Cornbread, Garlic Barack-oli

(we had this on election night, I had to go there....)

This week has been so crazy, but I am so glad the election is over and I can think about other things! Thanks to everyone who worked for the Obama or their state/local campaigns! It really is important...I promise :)

Belated MoFos!!

I have been quite the lazy blogger for the past two days! My apologies...after I got back from my long week in Chicago, I was too lazy to cook (and I had no food in my fridge!), I was tired, and I really just wanted to hang out with Steven. Needless to say, I was less than motivated to cook or blog! I am now refreshed and ready to cook, though, starting with last night!
Yesterday was not only Halloween and the last day of Vegan MoFo, it was also me and Steven's nine month anniversary! yay! So, I had to make a really delicious dinner for us, and I wanted it to be something he loved a lot...but not more than me :)
I went with Homemade Bratwursts, inspired by Julie Hasson's recipe for Spicy Italian Sausages, served with Bubbie's Raw Sauerkraut on top, along with Braised Cabbage and Local Apples, and Rosemary-Roasted Sweet Potatoes. This meal was perfect! Warm and satisfying...perfect for a long night of Halloween fun! And there's even orange in the sweet potatoes! So clever.When I was in Chicago, I picked up something locally-made to make for Steven and myself, because I think it's really important to try local items wherever you go to appreciate the culture and tastes of the places you are visiting. When I saw this Upton's Naturals Chorizo-Style Seitan at Whole Foods, I knew that this is the item I had to bring home with me!! It seemed like a lot of the veg-friendly restaurants there in Chi-town had something featuring Seitan Chorizo on their menus, so I wanted to try using this tasty ingredient at home as well!

I wanted to use the chorizo in a Mexican/South American-inspired dish, so I made this:
Seitan Chorizo with onions, garlic, jalapenos, red peppers, hominy, greens, and avocado over quinoa....with lots of citrus, cumin, chipotle, and cayenne, this was really flavorful, and was a great way to celebrate the chorizo! I haven't had hominy in a long time, and I had forgotten how much I love it! yum!!

This precious little skull is made of chocolate (obviously) and was another cool thing I bought in Chicago! This was made by the gourmet chocolatier Vosges, who is famous for creating innovative and wonderful chocolate concoctions. This particular Hot Chile Chocolate Skull, in celebration of The Day of the Dead/Halloween, was made of solid dark chocolate, ancho chiles, chipotle chiles, cinnamon, and black sea salt...this skull was so warm and spicy and sweet and flavorful! This is probably the only time I will rave so much about eating a body part (unless they make more body parts out of chocolate)!

On some side notes:
Happy end of Vegan MoFo...I'm already looking forward to next year!
Happy belated Halloween
Please do whatever you can to support/volunteer for/encourage Barack and Joe over these next three days! We are so close...don't give up now, people!!